The comptroller’s office on Thursday clarified its interpretation of Texas’ school voucher law in a way that could help students with disabilities qualify for nearly $20,000 more each year in taxpayer funds.
Senate Bill 2 provides families roughly $10,500 per year to pay for private school and $2,000 for home-schoolers. Students with disabilities can qualify for up to $30,000 — but only if they have received a special education evaluation from a public school.
If families of children with disabilities do not complete the evaluation before voucher applications close Tuesday, state law does not expressly allow them to receive the extra funding in subsequent school years — even if they undergo an evaluation at a later date.
In a Texas Tribune story published Thursday morning, the office of the comptroller — Texas’ chief financial officer who oversees the voucher program — agreed that students without an assessment appeared locked into the lower funding tier in future years. The office also said it would continue reviewing the law to determine how to accommodate those families.
Hours after publication, the office said it may have found a way.
The key, comptroller spokesperson Travis Pillow said, is how the voucher law makes up to $30,000 available to a “child with a disability.” That definition applies only to students eligible to participate in a public school’s special education program, meaning, in part, they completed an evaluation.
The comptroller’s office believes families who did not finish the assessment in time for the inaugural year of the voucher program could likely do so before next year’s sign-up period. For that to work, the Legislature would need to increase funding for the program. Otherwise the office would be limited in how it could free up money to accommodate students who qualify for more.
However, the office’s narrow definition of a “child with a disability” to determine student funding levels does not align with its more expansive definition during the voucher application process.
Under state law, students with disabilities receive priority access to vouchers when demand exceeds funding set aside for the program. But under rules developed by the comptroller, those students do not need a public school evaluation to receive priority. They only need medical documentation.
The comptroller’s wishlist may also include the Legislature clarifying whether, for example, a home-school student who qualifies for $2,000 — and later transfers to a private school — could receive the $10,500 set for those children. Lawmakers may also need to consider, Pillow said, how a child’s disability can change and take it into account when clarifying whether the comptroller can adjust funding levels.
Some Texas parents did not realize they needed the evaluation until they started the voucher application during a 41-day window that opened Feb. 4. The situation has inundated public school districts with requests from private schools and prospective voucher parents trying to secure special education documentation.
Once parents request an evaluation, districts have 15 school days to offer them an opportunity to provide written consent. Upon receiving consent, districts have 45 school days to complete the evaluation, followed by 30 calendar days for parents and educators to meet and develop an accommodation plan.
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